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Poland election results: Opposition secures win, final count shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s opposition parties won enough seats in Sunday’s general election to take power from the Law and Justice (PiS) party which has ruled the country since 2015, according to a final vote count released by the National Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning.The election — which ended with a record turnout of 74.4 percent — saw PiS return as the largest party, but without the ability to form a winning coalition in the 460-member lower house of parliament.The final count had PiS with 35.4 percent, followed by the centrist Civic Coalition at 30.7 percent, the center-right Third Way at 14.4 percent, the Left with 8.6 percent and the far-right Confederation with 7.2 percent.That means Law and Justice takes 194 seats in parliament, Civic Coalition gets 157, Third Way 65, the Left 26 and Confederation 18. Civic Coalition, led by former Prime Minster and European Council President Donald Tusk, the Third Way and the Left have pledged to form a coalition government to...

It’s time to hang up on the old telecoms rulebook

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

Joakim Reiter | via VodafoneAround 120 years ago, Guglielmo Marconi planted the seeds of a communications revolution, sending the first message via a wireless link over open water. “Are you ready? Can you hear me?”, he said. Now, the telecommunications industry in Europe needs policymakers to heed that call, to realize the vision set by its 19th-century pioneers.Next-generation telecommunications are catalyzing a transformation on par with the industrial revolution. Mobile networks are becoming programmable platforms — supercomputers that will fundamentally underpin European industrial productivity, growth and competitiveness. Combined with cloud, AI and the internet of things, the era of industrial internet will transform our economy and way of life, bringing smarter cities, energy grids and health care, as well as autonomous transport systems, factories and more to the real world.5G is already connecting smarter, autonomous factory technologies | via VodafoneEurope should be at th...

Sweden players take overnight flight home, start returning to clubs after shooting in Belgium

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

Sweden players were returning to their clubs Tuesday after taking an overnight flight home from Brussels following the suspension of their European Championship qualifier against Belgium at halftime because a gunman killed two Swedish nationals before kickoff.The squad went directly to the airport and flew back to Sweden once they were allowed to leave King Baudouin Stadium, which was locked down for 2 1/2 hours for security reasons before officials began an evacuation process around midnight local time.It was around 4 a.m. local time when the last of the Swedish supporters — totaling about 650, according to the Swedish Football Association — left the stadium under police surveillance, along with some staff from the federation.All hotels where Swedish supporters were staying were also guarded by police, the federation said.The Swedish FA confirmed to The Associated Press that the national-team players were now making their way back to their clubs.The suspect in the shooting was shot...

India’s Supreme Court refuses to legalize same-sex marriage, says it is up to Parliament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court refused to legalize same-sex marriages, with the chief justice of the country saying Tuesday that it was up to Parliament to create such a law. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also urged the government to uphold the rights of the queer community and end discrimination against them. The five-judge bench earlier this year heard 20 petitions that sought to legalize same-sex marriage in the world’s most populous country. Chandrachud said there were degrees of agreement and disagreement among the justices “on how far we have to go” on same-sex marriages.“This court can’t make law. It can only interpret it and give effect to it,” the chief justice said, reiterating that it was up to Parliament to decide whether it could expand marriage laws to include queer unions.Legal rights for LGBTQ+ people in India have been expanding over the past decade, and most of these changes have come through the Supreme Court’s intervention. Tuesday’s judgment comes after...

Police shoot dead suspected extremist accused of killing 2 Swedish soccer fans on a Brussels street

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Police in Belgium on Tuesday shot dead a suspected Tunisian extremist accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a brazen shooting on a Brussels street before disappearing into the night. Hours after a manhunt began in the Belgian capital, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told broadcaster VRT: “We have the good news that we found the individual.” She said that the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered.The federal prosecutor’s office was more cautious, saying in a text message to The Associated Press: “There are strong presumptions but no certainties” that the man was the shooter. He was shot by police in the Schaerbeek neighborhood where the rampage had taken place.Amateur videos posted on social media of Monday’s attack showed a man wearing an orange fluorescent vest pull up on a scooter, take out a large weapon and open fire on passersby before chasing them into a building to gun them down.“Last night, three people left for what was...

Stock market today: World shares gain on back of Wall Street rally as war shock to markets fades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares advanced Tuesday after U.S. stocks rallied as investors unwound some of last week’s moves driven by worries about war in the Middle East. Oil prices slipped and U.S. futures also edged lower. Markets are awaiting China’s latest economic growth figures, due Wednesday. Economists are forecasting that annual growth dropped to under 5% in July-September from 6.3% in the previous quarter. A weaker Chinese economy is a drag on regional and global trade and manufacturing, slowing the global recovery from the pandemic. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was up 0.1% at 15,258.33 and the CAC 40 in Paris also gained 0.1% to 7,031.52. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 7,650.27. The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow industrials were up less than 0.1%. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.2% to 32,040.29 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.7% to 17,771.08. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3% to 3,083.50. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200...

Opioid overdose deaths among homeless people have risen dramatically: Ontario study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

LONDON — A new study says people experiencing homelessness make up a growing proportion of opioid overdose deaths in Ontario. It found that about one in six people killed by opioid overdoses in 2021 were homeless, compared to one in 14 people back in 2017. Lead author Richard Booth of Western University says the increase is shocking and shows the importance of housing as a health and social intervention. The researchers say a poisoned drug supply and disruptions to services during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely factors in the rise of deaths. The study was published on Tuesday in the journal Addiction.Jade Boyd, a research scientist with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, says the results reflect the devastation also facing marginalized people in B.C. and other parts of Canada. Boyd was not involved in the Ontario study.The Ontario researchers examined coroner’s data and health records for 6,644 opioid overdose deaths in the province between July 2017 and June 20...

Daily horoscope for October 17, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT today (8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Cancer into Leo.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023:You’re careful, conscientious and responsible. Nevertheless, you’ll take a chance because you’re also fearless and resilient. This year it’s time to enjoy life and nurture the happiness and beauty that you have within yourself. Be grateful. Let your guard down and loosen up a bit. Old friends might reappear.ARIES(March 21-April 19)★★Your productivity might be challenged today. Issues related to shared property, taxes, debt or the wealth and resources of someone else, as well as the responsibilities you have for someone else, might be confusing! Later, rules and regulations hold you back. Oy! Tonight: Explore!TAURUS(April 20-May 20)★★★Discussions with those who are closest to you today might be vague or slightly confusing. It’s hard to second-guess...

Save the date: Webinar on job skills statistics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

From hard manual labour to complex calculations, how we spend our working time is determined by the skills we use. In the European year of skills, we use this opportunity to take a peek at the wide range of data Eurostat has on labour market demand and supply, educational attainment levels, digital skills proficiency, and working time dynamics.If you are curious about which job skills are in demand, or how education impacts the type of work people do and the time they spend on specific tasks, join us for a webinar with our experts from the labour market and lifelong learning unit on 27 October, from 11.00 to 12.00 CEST.The online webinar will be streamed on the Eurostat website and the Eurostat Facebook account. It is open to anyone interested, and there is no need to register. There will be an opportunity to ask questions via Slido. Add the event to your calendar by clicking below, and join us.Add to Calendar   Add to Google Calendar   Add to Yahoo! CalendarMore information Webinar...

Scorsese’s Revisionist Western Epic Killers of the Flower Moon Earns its Length

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:51 GMT

In his continued exploration of greed, corruption and moral decay, Martin Scorsese doesn’t play it safe in Killers of the Flower Moon, his latest, which opens in theaters this Friday for a limited run before premiering on Apple TV, likely early next year. Although he touched on similar themes in Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman, Scorsese shoots straight for the heart in his latest, depicting our country’s original sin: the genocide of the Native Americans. The 80-year-old filmmaker still employs his signature trademarks including a propulsive narrative, lashings of intense violence, and mesmerizing dives into the mechanics of crime. This time, however, his approach has a psychological depth and curiosity that feels fresh.Based on David Grann’s book of the same name, the movie tells the story of the systematic murders of Osage Native Americans in 1920s Oklahoma. Even with its three-hour-plus running time and a $200 million budget, the film flies by and keeps you compl...